Foundations 200 | Yoga Teacher Training 2017-2018

Yoga Teacher Training 200 hours,

Maja’s teacher training programs are international programs of highest standards, designed to help you become a skillful, confident, intuitive and articulate yoga teacher.

You will train to express clearly and with very explicit instructions the firm knowledge that you will acquire about the asanas and their modifications, and about the optimum alignment strategies, applied to different people, with different physical needs.

At the same time you will learn to infuse your lessons with inspiring and elevating spiritual themes from the yogic philosophy that you will study, so that in every class you assist your students on a true path of inner transformation.

Studying yoga with Maja means
• ever-evolving in your personal practice and teaching skills,
• always expanding your knowledge of the body and mind,
• continuously deepening your spiritual insights,
• increasing your capacity for intuition, sensitivity and awareness of what your students need, and how you can be of service to their path of progress.

Whom is the 200hr program for

The 200-hour program is ideal for students who wish to teach yoga, for students who wish to dive deeply into yoga practice and study, as well as for the existing teachers of yoga who wish to experience Maja’s method.
It is for passionate yoga practitioners who wish to engage in a rich and creative learning atmosphere where they will get to
- Immerse themselves in all aspects of yoga – asana alignment and therapeutics, philosophy, meditation, anatomy, art and skills of teaching yoga, ethics and yoga business and other.
- Learn how to create a class safe for students of all levels, respecting their boundaries but at the same time inviting them to unfold their full potential.
- Discover and learn to trust and to express their unique gifts, their unique voice, and their authenticity as a teacher.
- Learn how to convey the connection between the yoga class and an everyday life, and the importance of yoga and meditation outside the yoga class.

The prerequisites for participation
- A minimum of 1 year of regular and committed yoga practice
- A written application and an interview with Maja
- We strongly recommend minimum of 3 months of practice with Athens Yoga teachers

Areas of Study
• Deepening through intensive daily 3hr asana and pranayama practice.
• Details of physical and energetic alignment, their therapeutic dimension and how to apply on the various body types.
• Asana categories, progressive building within each category, and the corresponding preparation for each category both in terms of alignment strategies and in terms of poses.
• Anatomy and therapy with yoga. Important information about the muscular and skeletal systems, which body parts engage in which asanas, and how to avoid injury in yoga. Important information about how the way various systems function (digestive, circulatory, respiratory etc.)
• Pranayama study (breathing techniques) in great detail. How to help your students experience the connection of body and mind through pranayama.
• Restorative poses and use of props (blocks, straps, chairs, blankets).
• Introduction to meditation. Daily meditation practices. Meditations from Vijnana Bhairava with Carlos Pomeda.
• History and philosophy of yoga. The relevance of the ancient philosophy texts to our modern times. The Vedas. The Upanishads. The Bhagavad Gita. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The Tantras. Basic Sanskrit and names of poses.
• Skillfully designing classes that
1. Have a good structure, leading from centering and meditation to warm ups, culmination, grounding and relaxing,
2. Are inspiring and elevating, designed within the spiritual context of yoga and other life-philosophies and
3. Always offer students something to apply in their daily lives.
• The energy body (chakras, nadis, vayus) that takes the practice even more deeply.
• Methodology of using speech, tone of voice, teaching speed and asana demonstrations in different stages of the class and under different circumstances.
• Class design for beginners, middle level and advanced students. Variations of poses that correspond to the needs of each student, depending on their capacity and experience in yoga.
• Mixed level classes and variations of poses.
• Sequencing. Series and succession of poses that prepare students' body progressively for advanced postures. How to teach complex and advanced poses.
• Lifestyle, ethical principles and code of principles-values for yoga teachers.
• How to start your career as a yoga teacher. Legal and economic issues (trademark, copyright, data protection, rights and liability, discrimination issues, special matters of liability and quality services, market research, marketing and advertising, trends research).
• Practicum at Athens Yoga and volunteer teaching to a social group in need.
• Studying, recording, written assignments.

Instructors
Maja Zilih – www.mayayoga.at
Maja is a passionate explorer of yoga as a process of growth. She is most interested in ways that physical alignment, breath attention, mental observation and yoga philosophy can all be combined to help us navigate through life's challenges more skillfully and more efficiently. She ims at raising an understanding that yoga is here to equip us with strength and strategies that we need in order to unfold the process of healing the relationship with ourselves, with others and with the planet.
Maja's teaching method combines effort and dynamism with mindful approach to asana, along with detailed alignment strategies in a comprehensive and applicable way. She always inspires students to discover and unleash their true potential.
Maja holds teacher training programs, alignment and therapy workshops, seminars on teaching and sequencing advanced poses, classes and yoga retreats in Austria and Greece.
Maja's note: The outside world is merely a reflection of our inner state. Increasingly integrating (the seemingly scattered) parts of the self through yoga practices, we begin to see the profound connections and interdependence everywhere we look. From the separation dream we gradually wake up to the fact that our individual spiritual growth is both contributing to, and strongly dependent on the degree of the evolution of the collective. Whether through meditation, mindful asana practice, aware and respectful parenting, acts of self-nurture, being in service to the underprivileged, or through simple random acts of kindness, yoga truly comes alive when the context behind our actions is a desire to contribute to the elevation of the consciousness level of the humanity as a whole.

At Athens Yoga you will be supported, encouraged and inspired.
You will gain confidence and sensitivity of a yoga teacher,
and you will be able to teach
in a manner deeply inspiring to your students,
helping them to change their lives.

"Maja is a brilliant teacher and a true inspiration, a source of deep knowledge and an example to aspire to. A beautiful balance of body and mind, movement and breath, earth and soul! And together with the rest of the team of exceptional teachers they offer a first-rate and well-rounded program that focuses on all the necessary aspects; the practice of yoga (asanas), philosophy, lesson planning and classroom skills, self-development, anatomy, alignment and how to practice and teach both effectively and safely (extremely important and unfortunately often underestimated and overlooked).

I definitely recommend this teachers training course to anyone who wishes to grow his/her yoga practice and dive into this magical world, even if they are not quite sure if they want to make the leap towards teaching or not. A life-enhancing (if not downright life-changing) experience! Thank you Maja and all you amazing yogis! Love and light to you all!!" - Wanda Pierri, 2014

"I signed up for this teacher training in order to get to know more about the rich tradition of yoga. The environment, the program itself and the teachers' approach all exceeded my expectations. Everyone's offer of knowledge, the educational material we received as well as all the guidance was only the beginning. I continue learning every day through my practice and the tools we were given during the teacher training and through the community of teachers and students. The most important gift of this training is perhaps the confidence and faith in our power.

Teaching comes so early in this training that it leaves no room for doubt. We started teaching from the very first steps of the training which filled me with confidence and put me in the mood for more knowledge and experience. The teacher training is an invaluable experience whichever reasons initially bring you to it." Tina Tsaleza, 2014

"I first went to a training intuitively after years of yoga practice. Today I am grateful to my teachers for the body & soul transformation I went through. I am full of confidence and responsibility around the infinite science called YOGA. I have already started teaching. I wish to other fellows to take this wonderful journey to confidence, empowerment, healing and lastly, joy. I want to thank my experienced teachers for transmitting their knowledge with lovingly and respectfully. These words come out from my soul. I am thankful and grateful now and forever." – Ioanna Loudarou, 2014

"A unique and special experience for your body and mind which fills you with confidence regarding your own possibilities. The teachers were characterized by their responsibility and their special ability to transmit knowledge. A very special journey into the inner world." – Eleni Demeka, 2014

"A yoga teacher training is not only about learning how to teach. Apart from the complete knowledge on the topic, it is an invitation to self-discovery. The training highlights this holistic approach about what is yoga, what is to teach yoga and to practice, not only in a class but in your life as well." - Irida Mathe, 2014

"I don't know how to express the overwhelming gratitude I feel because, except for the basic training I feel that I have received so much "food" for the future!! Everything begins from now on! I feel the yoga center as a true family that embraced me right from the start, which is due to the environment that Maja creates and of course that is transmitted to the rest of the center" - Eleni T.

"A multidimensional, strong and inspiring training in every way!""There is an ever-growing feeling that the deeper I go as a student, the more I desire to invite the world to discover their own path of yoga." - Anna P.

"Being at the teacher training program is a very unique experience, more of a life-training. Obligations and demands only help build faith, molding a stronger character. Faith grows stronger in any direction that the student choses" - Yiannis Plitsos

"It doesn't matter whether one wants to teach yoga professionally or not. Whoever loves and enjoys yoga should attend the training to dive deeply into the Indian philosophy and to find answers to life questions. The training elevates the spiritual practice to the highest" - Dimitris Tsibinos

What a day of training looks like:

7:30- 8:00 Pranayama, meditation and centering (optional)

8:00-10:20 Constructing the class. Two-hour practice with emphasis on back bends

10:20-10:40 Reviewing and discussing the sequencing/theming/emphasis of the class that proceeded

10:40-12:00 Anatomy relevant to back bends (lower limb rotations, kidney, shoulder and scull loops). Advantages, counter-indications. How to prepare the students' bodies for back bends. Manual adjustments. Use of props (blocks, blankets, straps). How to teach adequate relaxation and grounding poses after the back bends.

12:00 - 13:00 Break

13:00 - 15:00 Philosophy: Bhagavad Gita

15:00 - 15:30 Using the yogic philosophy to inspire classes with backbends

15:30 - 16:15 Pranayama: Nadhi Shodana with variations

16:15 - 17:00 Closing circle/Meditation/conclusion

Maja’s note

"Students gain knowledge, skills, confidence and an international certification needed to start teaching yoga. But our vision at Athens Yoga is greater than that. We aim to empower students to discover the vast potential within themselves. To give them tools and inspiration not to do yoga, but to Live Yoga. The most remarkable yoga teachers in the world are those who actually live the teachings of Yoga. This is why our training is demanding, involving plenty of study. This is why we consider in necessary to work with the mind and why the program involves frequent meditation time all throughout the course, as meditation is elementary to living and teaching yoga.

During the course the students dive deeply into the study of yoga and of the Self, to experience a true shift towards health and balance in their lives. The inner-balance and serenity they gradually gain will then express itself in all their relationships, including their relationship to practice, to teaching yoga, and to their future students.

Hence as much as it is about teaching yoga, this course is also about self-discovery, development and transformation."

Dates:

Saturdays & Sundays 8.00 - 11.30 and 13.00-16.00

In addition, the training includes
• 15 hours of real classes observation at Athens Yoga, and
• At home students will watch the anatomy webinars, read the bibliography and write their assignments.